Portable air cooling apparatus



Jan. 9, 1934. w. J. MADDEN 7 1,943,127

PORTABLE AIR COOLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l FIG; I

WITNESSE 1 v INVENTOR: l/ W v v William J. Madden, W

Jan. 9, 1934. w. J. MADDEN PORTABLE AIR COOLING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 2 0, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 N ANNLN INVENTOR: TVZ'ZZz'am J DTadden TTORNEYS.

Jan. 9, 1934. w. J. MADDEN 1,943,127

PORTABLE AIR COOLING APPARATUS Fil ed Oct. 20, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 WITNESSES: I I N V EN TOR:

4/ William JMadde/n ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 9, 1934 MAME] UNITED" STATES, PATENT OFFICE PORTABLE AIR COOLING APPARATUS William J. Madden, Lansdowne, Pa. Application October 20, 1932. Serial No. 638,730

6 Claims.

. more economical and capable of accomplishing its work in a shorter period.

Other more specific objects and advantages characteristic of my invention will become more fully apparent from the description hereinafter 1 of one example or embodiment thereof, having reference to the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

Fig. I represents a plan view of a portable cooling unit of my invention adapted to be used for the pre-cooling of railway passenger cars, the cooling chamber of the apparatus being shown in cross section taken as indicated by the lines II of Fig. II.

Fig. II represents a side elevation of the same with certain portions of the cooling chamber broken away for clearness of illustration; and

Fig. III represents a cross section of the same taken as indicated by the lines IIII]I of Fig. II.

In the drawings, there is shown a portable cooling unit adapted for the pre-cooling of railway passenger cars while standing alongside a station platform. Cooling units designed for such use may be called upon to recondition the air in a railway car during the brief interval that the car stands at a station preparatory to its departure, and hence it is important that the unit may be speedily connected to the car, and that it perform its work efficiently and economically during the cooling period available.

In general the apparatus shown comprises a platform truck 1, which may take the form of an ordinary baggage truck such as is commonly used at railway stations, an air cooling chamber 2 mounted on the truck, and a blower 3 mounted on the truck near one end of the air cooling chamber, the blower being adapted to circulate air through the chamber. In the arrangement shown, air is drawn through an intake duct 4 and is discharged by the blower 3, which is driven by a motor 5, through a short connecting duct 6 into one end of the air cooling chamber 2. After passage through the air cooling chamber 2, the

air is discharged through a discharge duct 7 from whence it is led to the car which is to be cooled. Preferably both the intake duct 4 and the discharge duct 7 are detachably connected to the side windows of the car so as to form with the interior passenger space of the car a substantially closed system in which the air circulates continuously. While the system is substantially closed, it is gradually replenished with fresh air which leaks into the car to be cooled, for no attempt is made to render the car absolutely airtight.

The air cooling chamber 2 is in the form of an elongated rectangular box which rests on the. floor 8 of the truck 1, and which is of substan- 7 tially the same width as that of the truck. The truck 1 and its air cooling chamber 2 are preferably disposed in parallel arrangement with the car to be cooled so as not to obstruct to any considerable extent the station platform. The air cooling chamber 2 has therein a series of bafiies or partition plates 9 which divide the chamber into a series of individual compartments, each adapted to accommodate a large cake of ice, and which have openings permitting the flow Q of air from one compartment to another. The partition plates 9 preferably extend downward from the top of the cooling chamber 2 to a point midway between the top and bottom of the ice cakes which are represented diagrammatically 35 at 10. As indicated by the arrows, air admitted through the duct 6 to the intake end of the cooling chamber 2 follows a devious course passing above and around each cake of ice 10 and then downward around the lower edge of a partition plate 9 and upward around the next cake of ice. The air cooling chamber 2 is so designed that narrow passages are defined between the exterior surfaces of the ice cakes 10, the sides and top of the air chamber 2, and the partition plates 9. Thus when the ice cakes are first inserted and the blower 3 is set in operation, air passing through the unit will be effectively cooled by the ice which is the primary cooling medium. As the ice melts, however, the surrounding air passages become wider, and there is less intimate contact between the air and the ice. In order to compensate for the reduced efiiciency of the cooling unit as the ice melts, I provide a series of spray v nozzles 11 mounted above the ice cakes 10 and adapted to spray cold water in the manner hereinaftr described across the air passages defined between the ice cakes and the interior surface of the air cooling chamber 2.

At the discharge end of the air cooling chamber 2, I preferably provide an eliminator 12 comprising a series of metal plates of zig-zag formation arranged to provide tortuous passages for the air fiowing therethrough. The major portion of the moisture from the spray nozzles 11 is deposited at the eliminator 12 so as to prevent its being carried over into the discharge duct 7. Each ice compartment is equipped with a swinging door 13 opening onto the side of the truck. Accordingly, while the unit is in operation, each compartment can be replenished with fresh ice when required, without admitting warm air into the other compartments by the opening of the door.

At intervals along the length of the air cooling chamber 2, drain pipes 14 extend downwardly from the bottom of the chamber. The drain pipes 14 lead to a common drain 15 which has a branch connection 16 leading to a reservoir 17 suspended beneath the floor 8 of the truck. Water collected from the melting ice flows into the drain 15 and from thence into the reservoir 17. From the reservoir 17 the ice water passes through a valve 18, an intake strainer 19 and a short hose connection 20 to a pump 21. The pump 21 is preferably driven by an electric motor 22, and both the pump 21 and its motor 22 are conveniently housed in a box 23 suspended beneath the truck floor 8. The pump 21 conducts water collected in the reservoir 17 through a discharge strainer 24 and a valve 25 to a discharge pipe 26. The discharge pipe 26 leads upwardly through the air cooling chamber 2 to the top thereof, and there joins a pipe 27 which extends longitudinally along the top of the air cooling chamber. The pipe 27 has branches 28 which extend transversely to the sides of the air cooling chamber and terminate in the spray nozzles 11. In the ice water system there is also provided an overflow hose 29 for periodic draining of the system. In the over flow hose 29, thereis a U-shaped bend 30 which forms a seal or trap preventing the air pressure in the air chamber 2 from blowing the ice water out through the overfiow hose 29.during normal operation of the unit.

The operation of the above described air cooling apparatus is as follows. Assuming that the truck 1 has been brought alongside a railway car, and that the intake duct 4 and discharge duct 7 have been connected to the side windows of the car, the blower 3 is set in operation by starting its motor 5. Air is then caused to circulate around the ice cakes 10 in the cooling chamber 2 and to pass through the discharge duct '7 into the interior of the car. From the interior of the car the relatively warm air is drawn out through the suction duct 4 back to the blower 3. Preferably, both the intake duct 4 and the discharge duct 7 are detachably connected to the side windows of the car so as to form with the interior passenger space of the car a substantially closed system in which the air circulates continuously. Asthe ice cakes 10 melt, the water formed thereby flows into the drain pipes 14 and ultimately into the reservoir 17. As soon as a substantial quantity of water has collected in the reservoir 1'7, the pump 21 is started and cold water issuing from the spray nozzles 11 acts as a supplementary cooling medium for the air passing through the air cooling chamber 2. With further melting of the ice cakes 10, more water is collected in the reservoir 17 and more water is sprayed from the nozzles 11, so that air passing through the regions above and around the ice cakes which would otherwise fail to be effectively cooled, comes into intimate contact with the cold water of the melted ice. Accordingly, it will be observed that the cold water spray compensates for the reduction in efficiency which would otherwise occur and enables the cooling unit to perform its work economically and in a shorter period of time.

It will be especially'noted that the spray nozzles 11 are positioned adjacent to the partition plates 9 and are directed downward in the spaces between the sides of the ice cakes and the partition plates. As clearly shown in Fig. III, the jets issuing from each row of spray nozzles 11 forms a shower curtain completely covering the opening beneath the adjacent partition through which all of the air forced through the cooling chamber must pass.

Inasmuch as the interior surfaces of the air cooling chamber 2 and the partition plates 9 are made of metal, and as the spray nozzles 11 are directed across the air passages toward these metal surfaces, additional cooling effect is obtained by the absorption of heat from the air by the surrounding metal surfaces when these surfaces become cooled by contact with the water spray.

Obviously it may be desirable under certain circumstances to prime the cold water reservoir 17 and to start the operation of the pump 21, at the timethat the cooling apparatus is initially set in operation. Moreover, it may be desirable to connect the blower to the air chamber in a different manner whereby air, instead of being forced through the air chamber and then into the car, is sucked through the air chamber and forced into the car.

While I have described one particular form which the apparatus of my invention may take, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the apparatus is adapted for many other uses than the specific application to a railway car herein described, and that numerous changes may be made in the details and arrangement of the constituent elements of the apparatus, all without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the claims hereto annexed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An air cooling unit including a cooling chamber adapted to be substantially filled with cakes of ice spaced longitudinally within the chamber, the interior surfaces of said cooling chamber'defining with the surfaces of said ice cakes narrow passages for a current of air, spray nozzles directed downward between said ice cakes to form shower curtains across said air passages, and means for conducting ice water from the bottom of said cooling chamber to said spray nozzles, whereby, as the ice melts, water from said spray nozzles becomes the cooling medium for the air in the regions above and around said ice cakes.

2. An air cooling unit including a cooling chamber, partitions dividing said chamber into compartments each adapted to be substantially filled with ice, said partitions defining with the surfaces of the ice narrow passages for a current of air and having openings to permit the flow of air from one compartment to another, spray nozzles forming shower curtains across said openings, and means for conducting ice wavter from the bottom of said cooling chamber to 3. A portable air cooling unit comprising a truck, a cooling chamber thereon, a blower on said truck for passing a current of air through said cooling chamber, partitions dividing said chamber transversely into compartments each adapted to be substantially filled with ice, said partitions defining with the surfaces of the ice narrow passages for a current of air and having openings to permit the flow of air from one compartment to another, spray nozzles forming shower curtains across said openings, and a. pump for conducting water collected at the bottom of said cooling chamber to said spray nozzles.

4. A portable air cooling unit comprising. a truck, a cooling chamber thereon, a blower on said truck for passing a current of air through said cooling chamber, partitions dividing said chamber transversely into compartments, each compartment being adapted to accommodate a cake of ice, said partitions forming with the surfaces of the ice cakes and the top of the cooling chamber narrow passages for a current of air, and said partitions having openings to permit the flow of air from one compartment to another, spray nozzles forming shower curtains across said openings, and a pump on said truck for conducting water collected at the bottom of said cooling chamber to said spray nozzles.

5. A portable air cooling unit comprising a.

truck, a cooling chamber thereon, a blower on said truck for passing a current of air through said cooling chamber, partitions dividing said chamber transversely into compartments, each compartment being adapted to accommodate a cake of ice, and each compartment having a door opening to the side of the truck, said partitions forming with the surfaces of the ice cakes and the top of the cooling chamber narrow passages for a current of air, and said partitions having openings to permit the flow of air from one compartment to another, spray nozzles directed downward between the sides of said ice cakes and said partitions, and a pump on said truck for conducting water collected at the bottom of said cooling chamber to said spray nozzles.

6. An air cooling unit including a cooling chamber having interior metal surfaces and being divided interiorly by metal partitions into compartments each adapted to interior surfaces of said cooling chamber and the partitions defining with the surfaces of the ice narrow passages for a current of air, and said partitions having openings to permit the flow of air from one compartment to another, spray nozzles directed across said openings and against the metal surfaces of the partitions, and means for conducting ice water from the bottom of said cooling chamber to said spray nozzles.

WILLIAM J. MADDEN.

be filled with ice, the- 

